I've had a few new brews - new to me at least. Most impressive was the Moynihan's (?) Imperial Stout from some brewery in California. AWESOME!!! PERFECT!!!

Stone Brewery's 9th Anniv. Ale was good. It reeked of hops, literally like an open bag of whole hops. It was bitter, but not quite to IPA standards. And it was - wonderfully - completely lacking in the wood chip dep't.

A Polish bock called Kiper was nice - malty and yeasty like homemade bread - but I think my sample was a bit old and possibly cooked at some point.

That Sessions Lager sounds like my cup of tea. I'll look for it at BevMo, Tom.

OK, i will bite also.. i have breezing thru once a week and reading posts, but not a lot of time to actually respond to any. call me a peeping tom, if you will..(wow, 2 puns in one)...

anyway, i will post a pic of my 'seasonal' bottle of Corsendonk i got last night.. its a 3 quart bottle...YES, 3 QUART.. its about 2 1/2 feet tall, and weighs about 15 pounds. the guy at the beer store said that they are collector bottles, that they make them special for the holidays, and this was the first, and only shipment he would get.. i couldnt help myself, i just had to have it.. not real sure if i will actually drink it, but its damn hard not to. i will post a pic of it later this week. its insane!!!

I love it that now, Duvel is your "old standard". Your preferences seem to have evolved. How does your lovely bride feel about those Belgian beers? Do you find that these styles of beer accompany Chili well?

BigdaddyTom!
I tried that Session lager (actually I tried 11 of them on the golf course last week ).
It is good clean stuff. Carbonation followed by mild caramel malt sweetness, a hint of nuts, with a pleasant dry finish.
Very good for downing in quantity. Subsequent belches were bile and hop free.
I will wait for the price to fall some before grabbing more, though.
Ended up getting a keg of local fest lager rather than the stout, which was exhausted. Also good stuff.
Cheers all.